Movie review of Royal Wedding (1951) starring Fred Astaire, Jane Powell, Peter Lawford, Sarah Churchill
Tom and Ellen Bowen (Fred Astaire and Jane Powell) are a brother and sister dance duo invited to perform in London during the same time that Princess Elizabeth and Prince Phillip are to be betrothed — only to find their own romances that threaten to break up the act!
Royal Wedding has a fairly basic plot — dancing stars Tom and Ellen Bowen (played by Fred Astaire and Jane Powell), who are going to England to perform their popular Broadway show there. Both have been unlucky in love, and are confirmed bachelor and bachelorette. This begins changing on their boat trip across the Atlantic, as Ellen/Jane Powell begins falling in love with an Englishman, Lord John Brindale (played by a young Peter Lawford). Once they arrive, Tom/Fred Astaire starts to fall in love with Anne Ashmond (played by Sarah Churchill), one of the English dancers in the show.
There are various moments delaying the inevitable, such as trying to reunite Sarah’s separated parents, rehearsing with their English cast, etc. but the requisite romances happen pretty much on schedule, with the Royal Wedding of the title (referring to the marriage of England’s then-Princess Elizabeth) happening on cue — with two more soon to follow?
In truth, although it’s an enjoyable musical romance, the highlights of the movie are some of the spectacular dance routines, including:
Dance routines
- Fred Astaire dancing with a hat rack, as well as other items in a workout room on board the ship
- Jane Powell and Fred Astaire demonstrating their dancing skills on the ship’s ballroom, as the ship pitches back and forth — a very funny dance routine, to the music of “Open Your Eyes”
- Fred Astaire literally dancing on the wall and ceiling, to the music of “You’re All the World to Me”
- A funny routine from the mythical stage production, “How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Love You When You Know I’ve Been a Liar All My Life” — a very enjoyable routine
I enjoyed Royal Wedding very much, and if you’re a fan of musical romances in general, or Fred Astaire in particular, you will too.
Funny movie quotes from Royal Wedding
Tom Bowen (Fred Astaire): Mr. Hillard can keep his air conditioning — where he’s going, he’s going to need it!
Marriage
Chester: Have you ever considered getting married, sir?
Tom Bowen (Fred Astaire): I was engaged once.
Chester: What happened?
Tom Bowen (Fred Astaire): The girl changed her mind at the last minute. I’ve been deeply indebted to her ever since.
Chester: Marriages are very healthy, sir. You see, married men live much longer than bachelors.
Tom Bowen (Fred Astaire): If that’s true, they’re only trying to outlive their wives so they can be bachelors again.
Ellen Bowen (Jane Powell): [referring to the royal couple] I wonder what the bride is doing today.
Tom Bowen (Fred Astaire): Why don’t you call her up and ask her?
Ellen Bowen (Jane Powell): [chuckles] I wonder what I would be doing a month before my wedding.
Tom Bowen (Fred Astaire): Probably trying to find a way out of it.
Ellen Bowen (Jane Powell): Do you really think so?
Tom Bowen (Fred Astaire): You know you would.
Courtship
Tom Bowen (Fred Astaire): I wonder what the groom is doing today.
Ellen Bowen (Jane Powell): Why don’t you call him up and ask him?
Tom Bowen (Fred Astaire): Very funny.
Lord John Brindale (Peter Lawford): Haven’t you met anybody with a title before?
Ellen Bowen (Jane Powell): Only John Lewis.
James Ashmond (Albert Sharpe): Do I look like a gentleman?
Tom Bowen (Fred Astaire): You look like a banker.
James Ashmond (Albert Sharpe): But do I look like a gentleman?
Tom Bowen (Fred Astaire): There’s a fellow that won’t take “yes” for an answer.
Tom Bowen (Fred Astaire): Sorry, I thought you were him.
Anne Ashmond (Sarah Churchill): How odd.
Tom Bowen (Fred Astaire): You should have seen your face when you saw me.
Anne Ashmond (Sarah Churchill): How did I look?
Tom Bowen (Fred Astaire): As if I were a dentist.
Odds & ends
Ellen Bowen (Jane Powell): Didn’t your mother never teach you no manners?
Tom Bowen (Fred Astaire): I never had no mother. We was too poor.
Irving Klinger (Keenan Wynn): This is a pretty box of pickles
Songs
- Too Late Now
- Music by Burton Lane
- Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner
- Sung by Jane Powell
- Ev’ry Night at Seven
- Music by Burton Lane
- Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner
- Sung by Fred Astaire and Chorus
- Danced by Fred Astaire and Jane Powell
- Sunday Jumps
- Music by Burton Lane
- Danced by Fred Astaire
- Open Your Eyes
- Music by Burton Lane
- Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner
- Sung by Jane Powell
- Danced by Jane Powell and Fred Astaire
- The Happiest Day of My Life
- Music by Burton Lane
- Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner
- Sung by Jane Powell
- You’re All the World to Me
- Music by Burton Lane
- Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner
- from “I Want to Be a Minstrel Man” in Kid Millions (1934)
- Sung and Danced (on walls and ceiling) by Fred Astaire
- I Left My Hat in Haiti
- Music by Burton Lane
- Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner
- Sung by Fred Astaire
- Danced by Fred Astaire, Jane Powell and Chorus
- What a Lovely Day for a Wedding
- Music by Burton Lane
- Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner
- Sung by Keenan Wynn (dubbed by Bill Reeve) and Chorus
- How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Loved You When You Know I’ve Been a Liar All My Life?
- Music by Burton Lane
- Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner
- Sung and Danced by Jane Powell and Fred Astaire
- Rule Britannia
- Music by Thomas Augustine Arne
- Lyrics by James Thomson
Cast of characters
- Fred Astaire (The Band Wagon; Three Little Words) … Tom Bowen
- Jane Powell (Seven Brides for Seven Brothers; Hit the Deck) … Ellen Bowen
- Peter Lawford (Easter Parade; The Picture of Dorian Gray) … Lord John Brindale
- Sarah Churchill (All Over Town) … Anne Ashmond
- Keenan Wynn (King of the Roaring Twenties; Neptune’s Daughter) … Irving Klinger / Edgar Klinger
- Albert Sharpe (Darby O’Gill and the Little People; Brigadoon) … James Ashmond
- Directed by Stanley Donen (Singin’ in the Rain)
Trivia for Royal Wedding
- The ship’s rocking during ‘Open Your Eyes’ was based on the Astaires’ own dancing experience on a voyage to London in 1923. A boat-rocking device was used to create the film effect.
- The idea of dancing with a clothes tree had been suggested to Astaire earlier by Hermes Pan.
- The ‘You’re All the World to Me’ dance was accomplished by putting a whole room, attached camera and harnessed cameraman inside a 20 ft. diameter rotating “squirrel cage.”
- Retitled ‘Wedding Bells’ in England so as not to make it seem as a documentary of the recent Royal Wedding of Princess Elizabeth, later to become Queen Elizabeth II.
- Final film of James Finlayson, who has an unbilled bit as a cab driver.
- The shop name “Harridge’s” is an amalgamation of “Harrod’s” and “Claridge’s”
- SPOILER: The story was loosely based on the real-life partnership of Fred Astaire and his sister, Adele Astaire. In real life, Adele Astaire married Lord Charles Cavendish, son of the Duke of Devonshire, just as Jane Powell, playing Fred’s sister, marries an English Lord at the end of this film.
Watch Royal Wedding online
Due to an error by MGM failing to renew its’ copyright, you can watch Royal Wedding online, courtesy of Internet Archive: